Date:         Thu, 26 Nov 1998 12:00:51 PST 
From: Lori Dehn <ldehn@HOTMAIL.COM> 
Subject:      In Gratitude (01/01) 
X-cc:         kcolley@foothills.net 
To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU 

This is really short, because I am stealing my sister's computer 1500
miles from home.  I was just checking my mail, and ran into someone's
Thanksgiving wishes, and speculation on what the FK characters might me
doing on the holidays.  Well, ignoring for a moment the fact that the
Canadian Thanksgiving was a month ago, here is my idea of LaCroix's
holiday message to his followers.

In Gratitude

by

Lori Dehn


"Thanksgiving.  The offering of boundless gratitude to 'God' for the
meager gifts tilled from the soil by the plow of your own futile work
over a long and tedious year.  It doesn't quite seem fair, does it?  Why
are you offering thanks to someone else for the fruits of your own
labor?  What you have worked for is yours.  What you have made is yours.
What you truly possess, you will always possess, and no one else will
ever be responsible for it.

"But Thanksgiving is a time for family, for loved ones, for friends.  A
celebration of strained and tenuous relationships with the idea that one
large meal can heal all of the wrongs done one another since the last.
And while this may not be honest, there is a need for it.

"Does not your tradition reestablish the hierarchy of the family?  Is
not a father's place at the head of the table?  Children gather and
remind themselves that, though they have left home, though they strive
to create lives for themselves, they are still children, and their
father will always be their father, no matter what they do, no matter
where they go."

LaCroix paused, picking up his glass.

"To families, of all kinds.  To yours, and to mine.  To fathers, and to
children.  To the daughters we cherish, and the sons with whom we
struggle.  We should be thankful, my children.  But no one deserves your
gratitude as much as...the Nightcrawler."

The end

This story is dedicated to all of the people on this list who made it
possible for me to have things to be thankful for this year.  I have a
home and a life that I didn't think I'd get back after the fire, and I
have all of you to thank for it.  It's always important to remember your
family at the holidays.  You are all my family, and I am very grateful.

L.

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